Design Technology - Digital Decorations (Upper Key Stage 2)

Design Brief: Design and make a digital decoration for the school Christmas tree display.

Sequence of Learning for Teachers
In this unit of work children design and make a digital decoration for a school Christmas tree. This is made by adding a BBC Micro:Bit to a felt tree decoration to create a digital decoration. Children learn about some of the traditions of decorating trees at Christmas and design a bauble as a Christmas tree decoration. They learn about the BBC Micro:Bit and know that is has a range of different inputs and outputs and consider which of these would be useful when designing a festive digital decoration.
Children design their digital decoration and apply their knowledge and skills of joining textile pieces to create a felt decoration which they decorate using a range of fabric techniques. As part of their design, they create a small frame and pouch to accommodate a BBC Micro:Bit and battery pack. Using their knowledge of block coding, they program the Micro:Bit to interact with a user and the environment to produce different outputs. As part of the project children create a marketing campaign for their product.

This knowledge, skills and understanding is delivered through the following six sessions:

1. IDEA Task 1: A history of Christmas trees & Focused Practical Task 1 – Embroidery Techniques
2. IDEA Task 2: All About the BBC Micro:Bit
3. Focused Practical Task 2: Creating a Mood Board
4. DME: Making the Decoration
5. DME: Programming the Product
6. DME: Marketing the Product